It was a fruitful southeast road swing this past weekend for the Battlefords North Stars.
A wild 6-4 loss to Estevan Friday was followed up by a couple of 3-2 wins over Weyburn and then Notre Dame the next two days. North Stars now have three wins in the past four games as they continue to battle Kindersley and Humboldt in the division race.
For head coach Brayden Klimosko it was a memorable weekend for a different reason. He welcomed his son Jake Allan Klimosko into the world on Saturday at 6:45 a.m. Both Jake and mom Katlyn are doing fine.
Estevan 6 North Stars 4
The North Stars game against the Bruins was a seesaw affair. Estevan initially took a 3-0 lead before the North Stars responded with four unanswered goals to claim the lead themselves.
Will Koop, TJ Irey and Bryce Platt were the goalscorers for Estevan within the first 5:05 of the game, giving the Bruins the early advantage.
That score held up until late in the second period when Quintin Loon-Stewardson scored his first of the season from Austin Becker and Brett Gammer at 18:25. Owen Lamb then got his 10th of the season from Matthew Fletcher and Cody Spagrud with just three seconds left in the period to cut it to 3-2.
Lamb then got the tying goal from Fletcher and Spagrud again on the power play 47 seconds into period three, before Logan Spence gave the North Stars the lead at the 3:08 mark from Quintin Loon-Stewardson.
Unfortunately, Koop’s second of the game tied it at 8:48, and the eventual game winner was scored by Tanner Manz at the 10:51 mark. An empty net goal from Michael McChesney sealed the win for Estevan. Joel Grzybowski stopped 25 of 30 in net for the Battlefords. Grant Boldt got the win stopping 25 of 29 for the Bruins.
North Stars 3 Weyburn 2
The North Stars rebounded the following night against the Weyburn Red Wings, outshooting the Wings 37-22 on the night.
Zac Gladu led things off with a shorthanded goal at the 6:15 mark before Brett Gammer’s fourth of the season tied things up in the first period. In the second, Quintin Loon-Stewardson’s goal gave the North Stars the lead.
Sean Olson’s goal tied things up one minute into the third period, but Braydon Buziak’s goal at the 15:09 mark was the game winner. Grzybowski got the win in net for the North Stars stopping 20 of 22.
North Stars 3 Notre Dame 2
It was a much more competitive contest Sunday in Notre Dame. The Hounds came to play in this one, outshooting the North Stars 28-24, but Grzybowski stopped 26 shots to give the North Stars the win.
On the other end of the ice it was a bad night for Notre Dame’s goaltending.
Elijah Loon-Stewardson’s goal in the first was followed up by goals from Quintin Loon-Stewardson shorthanded and Ryan Gil on the power play, in the second. That drove Andrew Henderson out of the Notre Dame net after having stopped seven of 10 shots.
Riley Kohonick stopped 14 the rest of the way for Notre Dame, who got goals from Nolan Renwick and Curtis Wiebe to make a game of it. But the North Stars held on for the 3-2 win.
The North Stars now enjoy a brief few days off before getting back into action Friday and Saturday at home versus Estevan and then Melville.
